Bethlehem Guard Plays War

The sound of war -- M-16 rifles popping in rapid succession -- echoed across the ridges of Blue Mountain as the 3623rd Maintenance Company of Bethlehem trained for Operation Desert Shield.

Clerks, forklift operators and postal workers in helmets and camouflaged fatigues jumped into fox holes, zeroed in on enemy silhouettes 100 yards away and squeezed off round after round on the rifle ranges of Fort Indiantown Gap.

FOR THE RECORD - (Unpublished correction) The first name of Company Commander Maj. Karl Smulligan is misspelled. The correct spelling is Maj. Carl Smulligan.

It was only practice.

Even in a wartime situation -- say in the desert of Kuwait -- the Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit most likely would repair M-16 rifles rather than fire them. In the field, the job of the unit's mechanics, supply clerks and technicians would be to keep the machinery of war running smoothly.

But a weapon, they say, is a soldier's best friend.

And as they jammed clips of live ammo into their semi-automatic rifles a few days ago, the possibility of war seemed one step closer to the part-time Lehigh Valley soldiers who are caught up in the biggest call-up of reserve forces in the four decades since the Korean War.

The transition to military life continues this weekend when the 3623rd begins NBC (nuclear-biological-chemical) training in preparation for departure to an unannounced overseas location.

The unit commander, Maj. Karl Smulligan of Tamaqua, said the 200-member force will ship out after Christmas.